F3: Stroll takes comfortable Race 2 victory

Formula 1-bound Formula 3 European champion Lance Stroll made it two out of two so far at the Hockenheim finale with a consummate drive to victory.

Stroll aced the start in his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes while front-row partner Jake Hughes fluffed his getaway, and instantly pulled out a 1.5-second margin on the opening lap.

Red Bull junior Sergio Sette Camara was the man in second place in the early stages in his Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen, having jumped Hughes and third-starting teammate Joel Eriksson from fourth on the grid.

But Sette Camara had not only jumped these cars, he was also deemed to have jumped the start. After keeping the gap to Stroll to between 1.5 and 2.0s for the first eight laps, the Brazilian was called in for a drive-through penalty.

That handed second to Eriksson, who was 3.6s behind the far-gone Stroll.

Eriksson actually brought the margin down in tiny increments over the next few laps, while in turn third-placed Callum Ilott – who had battled wheel to wheel with Eriksson on the opening tour – brought his Van Amersfoort Racing machine closer to the Swede.

But with a few laps remaining Stroll began building the margin again, finally crossing the line 4.7s to the good.

"It was actually a tricky race because the sun came down to about the worst level," said Stroll. "I couldn't actually see anything at some parts of the track, so I had to concentrate hard to not outbrake myself.

"But the rest of the race went very smoothly."

David Beckmann made it to fifth on the first lap thanks to an awesome exit from Turn 1 that swept him up the order from seventh on the grid.

The Mucke Motorsport driver closed on Ilott to the finish, with the recovering Hughes's Carlin machine in turn not far behind Beckmann.

Ralf Aron took sixth in his Prema car, while Hitech GP's George Russell once again put on a fantastic performance, this time from 16th on the grid after his penalty for an engine change.

Russell made his way up to seventh, setting fastest lap, although could not shake Anthoine Hubert (VAR), who in turn had the Prema car of Maximilian Gunther shadowing him.

Ben Barnicoat came out on top of a three-way all-Hitech battle with Nikita Mazepin and Alexander Sims to claim the final point.

Sims had escaped from a ferocious early scrap with Nick Cassidy, the two factory GT professionals banging wheels twice before a final clash that sidelined the Kiwi with damage to the left front.

RESULTS - 23 LAPS

Originally on Autosport.com